Class Glut?

[Vyvyan Basterd]

I had this overpopulated class problem at the end of 3e. How do I include the myriad of classes into a believable fantasy world?

The trick to world-building is not to build too much detail in that you trap yourself.

* Instead of a Wizards Guild you create an Arcane Academy (which can teach/support all arcane classes).
* Recognize that groups in your campign world should not define what a character is. It is perfectly all right for a preist of a deity to be a class other than a Cleric and derive his powers from other than the divine power source.
* Be adaptable. New classes either always existed or a new way of doing things has developed.
* The only part of the world the characters should really know if the part that touches them. There should be a good feel for the general tone of the campaign world, but you don't need to create the entirety of the world that is "off-screen."
* DMs have never had a problem adding new monsters into their campaigns but I have seen many struggle with including new classes. Think of what justifies adding in that cool new monster and apply that understanding to other new aspects of the game.
* Remember that the ultimate goal is to have fun. You may have fun detailing your world beyond any scope that the players will ever see. Just think of new classes as another chance to create a part of your game world.

 

[RefinedBean]

I doubt we'll see more roles, but I could be wrong.

I hope you are! Honestly, though, with how precise the roles are now, I just don't see how 4E could throw any more in. If they do manage to do so...oh man.

 

[Herschel]

Not class glut, but I admit I'm beginning to feel a race glut. The stat bumps are getting redundant and the flavor is getting thin to me, but I hate Half-Orcs as a concept for a PC race and two Shifter variations feels like there's already a stretch.

Class-wise, keep 'em coming.

 

[Mournblade94]

Not class glut, but I admit I'm beginning to feel a race glut. The stat bumps are getting redundant and the flavor is getting thin to me, but I hate Half-Orcs as a concept for a PC race and two Shifter variations feels like there's already a stretch.

Class-wise, keep 'em coming.

Race glut is definitely a problem. THe original races already tended to focus on one human cultural element. By the end of 3rd edition there were so many races that every aspect of human culture could be represented. Eventually I just restricted race to the Players handbook, FOrgotten Realms, and added wolfen. I liked Goliath but never made up a story for why they were in the realms so I did not include them, plus I did not want to buy another book. Many of the themes a player wanted to explore could be accomplished with the ranges of races I gave them. THe rest were just redundant.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Not class glut, but I admit I'm beginning to feel a race glut. The stat bumps are getting redundant and the flavor is getting thin to me, but I hate Half-Orcs as a concept for a PC race and two Shifter variations feels like there's already a stretch.

Class-wise, keep 'em coming.

Though it seems to me that it's not a problem of "stepping on toes" and more a "that seems a little out there".

Of course, that's a risk for classes, too. To use a 3E example. I loved the Oozemaster. An interesting, novel concept. But... it was a little bizarre, wasn't it? Sure there are some players, but enough?

 

[coyote6]

Oozemaster always seemed more like an NPC prestige class to me, along with most of the "Thrall of ___" and spider/vermin-related classes. Things for GMs to use to create specific sorts of bad guys.

Since 4e mostly doesn't use the PC rules for NPCs, I doubt there will be any Oozemaster prestige paths or the like. Instead, you'll probably get a Drow Oozemaster in some Monster Manual or adventure.

 

[Crothian]

Oozemaster always seemed more like an NPC prestige class to me, along with most of the "Thrall of ___" and spider/vermin-related classes. Things for GMs to use to create specific sorts of bad guys.

Since 4e mostly doesn't use the PC rules for NPCs, I doubt there will be any Oozemaster prestige paths or the like. Instead, you'll probably get a Drow Oozemaster in some Monster Manual or adventure.

This really hurts me, you cut me deep here.

--Oozemaster Spikey

 

[Fallen Seraph]

I can't see us getting Class or Race Glut for a while.

For Classes the individual Powers, Sources, Class Types, etc. all mean they can be tailored quite nicely and not step on anyone's toes.

For Races the fact that they seem to be treading away from sub-races for the most part is a big aspect of this. It means we won't get billions of elves, dwarves, etc. Instead we will continue to get more exotic, non-traditional races that aren't anything like elves or dwarves, etc. This is also helped by the Racial Powers, Feats and Paragon Paths. It means that new races won't be just a reskin of a stat-bonus.

 

[drothgery]

I don't think that it's possible to have too many classes. Use the ones you like and ignore the rest. Having more options is always better, as long as they aren't obviously broken or over-/under-powered.

In the abstract, I like the idea of a fixed set of fairly flexible classes ala Star Wars Saga (though True20 / UA generic classes pares things down too much). In practice, when I see a book full of new classes **ooh, shiny**.